


Yaim'la

by Kixs_Wife



Series: Everyone Deserves a Happily Ever After [1]
Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, But Riyo is trying to help him, Clone Trooper Inhibitor Chips (Star Wars), Couch Cuddles, Crying in the Shower, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Fox feels horrible, Guilt, I Love You, It’s not Fox’s fault, Manipulative Sheev Palpatine, Mentioned Sheev Palpatine | Darth Sidious, Palpatine is the worst, Sharing a Bed, Survivor Guilt, like i hate him so much
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-07
Updated: 2021-01-18
Packaged: 2021-03-17 20:08:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,776
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28605735
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kixs_Wife/pseuds/Kixs_Wife
Summary: After Fox kills Fives, he doesn’t know where to go. Luckily one Riyo Chuchi is there to help.Your basic hurt/ comfort fic. Only Fox can’t decide whether he’s overwhelmingly guilty and disgusted by himself, or falling head-over-heels for one Senator Chuchi.I was tired of the “Oh no there’s only one bed trope” and thought of a “Oh no, the couch it small, guess we gotta cuddle” and my friend suggested a few tips and tricks to accomplish that.
Relationships: Riyo Chuchi/CC-1010 | Fox
Series: Everyone Deserves a Happily Ever After [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2147898
Comments: 7
Kudos: 31





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> TW// Descriptions of panic attack like symptoms. Panicking. Talk about killing and death.

Fox felt like he was about to vomit everything he had ever eaten in his pathetic, manufactured, short, life.  
Blaster fire kept repeating over and over in his mind.  
Rex’s face.  
 _Him. _  
How?  
Why?  
 _“I killed him I killed him I killed him I killed him” _  
Fox’s body wasn’t his own, as he wandered the halls of the senate building, and to the dockyard.  
He only knew where he was going when he got to her doorstep.  
 _Vod-kyramud _*  
Did he knock?  
He didn’t remember knocking all he could see was-  
“Fox?”  
Riyo Chuchi’s voice rang out in his mind, like a birds song after a day of constant battle fire.  
“Fox what’s wrong?”  
He felt himself go limp.  
His body wasn’t his own.  
The small Senator’s knees buckled under his weight, but she kept holding him.  
“What happened?”  
He nuzzled his face into the crook of her neck, which normally would’ve made him flush but he no longer felt anything but panic and pain.  
Why pain?  
Why, why, why, why, _why _?  
She pulled him into her apartment, and sat him down on the nearest chair.  
“I killed him, I killed him, I killed him, I killed him, I killed him, I killed him, I killed him.”  
Was all he could manage, his voice barely sounding his own. He was usually commanding, but now… now it sounded like a lost child.  
“Killed who?” Riyo bent down to look at him, her hold eyes not bringing him the same comfort they usually did, “Fox! Who did you kill?”  
“ _Vod-kyramud _.”  
Chuchi sighed and looked at him, eyebrows knitting in concern.  
“Okay Fox, here’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to take some deep breaths, can you do that for me?”  
Fox felt himself nod, slowly taking a few breaths under Riyo’s guidance.  
“What else do you need Fox?”  
He couldn’t look at her, his breathing had returned to normal but he kept seeing his face.  
His own face looking up at the ceiling, eyes glassy and blank.  
Dead.  
His own face and countless of his brothers.  
 _Vod-kyramud _.  
“Fox.” Riyo’s voice was suddenly stern, “What can I do to help?”  
A small “Tired” was all he could muster.  
Riyo nodded and let him lean on her, guiding him to her couch.  
He never knew how strong she was.  
She threw a blanket over him, looking anxious and made as if to walk away.  
He grabbed her delicate wrist gently, “Stay?”  
Riyo raised her eyebrows before settling into a small smile.  
“Of course.”  
He never realized how small the couch was until she sat down next to him- squishing up next to him.  
He jumped as she slowly reached up to his face, wiping away tears he never knew were there.  
“Fox? Can you talk about it?”  
He shook his head.  
Riyo nodded solemnly, “I’m going to hug you know, is that okay.”  
He nodded numbly.  
She ran a little hotter than a human, it was comforting. Her face pressed against his chest and he let himself close his eyes.  
They say there like that for what seemed like hours, Riyo gently and evenly rambling about everything and nothing. How her day was, what Senator said something funny and why, even the exact number of stray loth-cats she saw(11).  
It was soothing, and Fox suddenly realized how much she meant to him.  
A murderer.  
He didn’t deserve this.  
He was just so tired.  
His entire body ached.  
He didn’t deserve her.  
Riyo’s head shot up as he started to sob, her almost cartoon like eyes even wider, “Fox?”  
“You are just so…”  
He took in her face, her mauve eyebrows scrunched up in worry, her gold eyes, the two arches on her cheeks that he knew were yellow but looked like green because of her blue skin.  
“ _Perfect _.”_  
Her cheeks turned indigo and she looked at him.  
She had once said that she was “No saint.” after seeing some artwork his vod** had done of her with a halo in the barracks.  
And she was right.  
She wasn’t a saint.  
She was an Angel.  
“Fox…”  
Riyo looked at him like she had a hundred times before.  
“You need to sleep.”  
He tried to messily rub one of his eyes.  
Maybe he did.  
Riyo patted his cheek gently with her delicate hand and got up, looking back at him before going to turn the lights off.  
“Riyo?” He croaked.  
“Yes?”  
She was stunning.  
“Thanks.”_____________


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Uhhh shnuggles...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW// more mentions of death, vomit, etc.

Fox woke up in a cold sweat to someone shaking him, he grabbed their arms, jolting upwards.  
“Fox!” Riyo yelled, tears forming in her eyes, making his grip go slack.  
“Ri! I-“ he looked around the room wildly, “I’m so sorry, I didn’t know-“  
His heart plummeted as he saw a tear roll down her cheek.  
“Fox you were _screaming _.”  
He was?  
He was.  
He had seen it all over again.  
 _Vod-kyramud _.  
He felt sick, and before he could keel over and throw up, Riyo gently held her garbage bin in front of him, appearing at his side and rubbing circles on his back.  
How had she known?  
“Hey, Fox, it’s okay. You’re okay.”  
Once he was done, Riyo wrapped an arm around him, letting him hold the bin with shaking hands.  
“Do you need some water?”  
She handed him a bottle and unscrewed it for him.  
He washed his mouth out and spit the water out in the garbage bin, setting it down and pushing it away with his foot.  
Riyo wrapped the blanket around him again, carefully pushing him back down onto the couch.  
“I can come back and check on you okay? Please try to get some rest.”  
Her pieces of her wavy hair fell, brushing his face and framing hers in a halo of mauve.  
“I think I really, really like you, Chuchi.” He said, eyes drifting closed as he tucked some of her hair behind her ear.  
She seemed stunned and flushed a deep indigo before saying, “I think I really, really like you too, Fox.”____

____***_ _ _ _

____He woke up again, lurching up like a creature form a cheesy horror holovid.  
He rubbed his face and gathered the blanket around him, steeling himself for what he was about to do.  
He shuffled to Riyo’s room, knocking on her door before she answered it bleary eyed.  
“What’s wrong?”  
“Can I…” he stared at his feet, he didn’t deserve this, “can I sleep in your room tonight? I promise it’s just for tonight and-“  
“Fox,” She studied him for a minute before moving away from the doorframe, letting him in, “it’s okay.”  
He crawled up onto the bed, feeling himself turn red.  
 _What was he thinking _?  
He felt the bed dip a bit when Riyo got on.  
“Fox?”  
“Yes?”  
There was a pause, in which a thousand thoughts filled Fox’s mind, most of them lingering on the day's events.  
“Goodnight.”  
***  
He sat there awake, not able to fall asleep, his thoughts buzzing around until Riyo rolled over in her sleep and her forehead touched his shoulder.  
 _It would be okay as long as she was there. She would always forgive him. _______ _ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Um. Yeah. That happened. I’m tired. And sleep deprived- I have school tomorrow. This is fine. I finally feel good enough to write tho so yay.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Riyo takes care of Fox.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So when I said “I’ll update when I’ll update” I really meant it. I cannot stay on a schedule for my life.

Riyo woke up slowly sitting in bed for a minute before realizing she wasn’t lying on her pillow.  
She jumped up and felt her face burning in embarrassment and something else.  
Unfortunately, this little show woke up Fox, who in turn, also jumped up seeing where he was.  
“ _I’m so sorry _!” The said in unison, yet again sending a flurry of butterflies to her stomach. They were so close to each other, faces almost touching.  
Fox cleared his throat and scooted to the end of the bed.  
“Thanks, Ri. For… everything.”  
She loved it when he called her Ri.  
“It’s really no trouble- are you feeling better?”  
His face visibly paled, so she took that as a no.  
She nodded and got out of the bed(albeit reluctantly), moved over to his side and tucked him back in.  
“That’s completely fine. You can take as long as you want, Fox.”  
“But-”  
She gave him what she hoped was a kind look, “Fox. You are obviously distraught- what kind of friend would I be if I ignored that?”  
He looked almost… ashamed.  
What had happened? What had he done?  
“Ri-”  
She met his guilty eyes with a firm gaze.  
“You are important, Fox. No matter what happens, whatever happened yesterday.. You are important _to me _.”  
He stared at her and they sat in silence.  
“Now,” she clapped her hands together, taking note on how Fox flinched when she did it(she made a mental note that he had a headache), “you are not to leave this bed unless it is to use the ‘fresher or shower, that's an order, soldier.” she hoped he would know that the last bit was playful.  
A small, slow, smile spread across Fox’s face as he mock saluted her and snuggled up under the blankets again.  
Riyo made sure the door slide shut behind her and sped-walked to her datapad, first to send the speech she had been planning to give today to one of her aids and tell her that she was out sick that day(she paused before adding that it was dreadfully contagious so she shouldn’t come check up on her), then she went into a database and typed in “ _Vod-kyramud _”.  
She could only stare at the screen as the words “brother-killer” flashed up in a blue too calming for the thoughts that rushed through Chuchi’s head. The first one being that Fox could not have possibly killed one of his own brothers. Maybe it was a work-place accident, or maybe one of his brothers got decommissioned because of something Fox told him to do?  
She still shivered when she thought of the word.  
 _Decommissioned _.  
As if he was some sort of product the kaminoans could throw out if the paint got chipped.  
So one of Fox’s brothers had died(she refused to think Fox had killed him, that was just so… unlike Fox.)  
Riyo took some deep breaths and turned off her datapad, looking up at the ceiling of her apartment.  
Now she had some idea of what Fox was going through, maybe she could help him. He already refused to eat on a daily basis, but maybe since he wasn’t on top of his game, she could wrestle some soup into his mouth.  
She remembered his headache and poked her head into her room, Fox was sound asleep, hugging one of her pillows to his chest like a child would their stuffie. She leaned against the doorway, staring at him with a no-doubt cheesy smile on her face. He seemed almost relaxed, his eyebrows were still knitted together, but the rest of him seemed to melt into the pillows.  
She moved from her creeper-perch and quietly tip-toed into the bathroom, opening the medicine cabinet.  
Reading the back of the bottle she saw it needed food before taken. She sighed and decided to wait a bit longer before waking him up. Maybe she could make him something? She winced thinking about it, she could burn water if left alone, she basically lived off of takeout. Maybe if she heated up some canned soup?  
That could pass as edible.  
Riyo got to work, periodically looking back to her room to see how Fox was doing(she had decided to leave the door open so she could see).  
Once the soup was finished(she ignored how it had almost boiled over twice), she served a small amount in a bowl-Fox would probably not want a lot of he was still feeling sick- and carried it into her room.  
She watched him for a bit before she placed the bowl down on the nightstand and sat on the bed next to him, placing a hand to his forehead. She was no expert on human anatomy, but she would say he was running a bit warm.  
Before she could register what was happening, Fox grabbed her wrist _hard _and jolted awake, eyes darting around the room and breathing rapidly.  
Riyo kept her voice calm and even, and blinked back tears rapidly, hoping he wouldn’t notice.  
“Fox. It’s alright. It’s just me, it’s Chu- it’s Ri, Fox, it’s me.”  
In any other situation she would’ve enjoyed watching the color drain from his face, it was almost comical.  
He let go, her arm going limp.  
“Riyo, I-“  
He looked at her, lost, scared, hurt. All of the above.  
To her surprise, _tears _started to fall down his face.  
“No, no, no, Fox it’s okay! Fox look at me,” she cupped his face with her hands gently, “it’s alright.”  
All the sudden on autopilot, she scooted more onto the bed, cradling his head to her chest and letting him cry.  
“Fox it’s alright, it’s alright…”  
She let her hands comb through his curly hair, and started to hum a bit to herself.  
Once he had calmed down he mumbled about twelve apologies by her count, each one she shook her head and told him it was alright, before offering him the soup and asking him if he still had a headache.  
When he nodded, she got up and retrieved the headache medication with the proper dosage(or what she guessed was the proper dosage for the “perfect human”).  
“Ri?”  
“Hm?” She hummed, sneaking a spoonful into his mouth before he said anything else.  
“I did something bad, something… I can’t do this Ri. I shouldn’t- I can’t-“ he looked at her with _those _eyes.  
They looked almost just like the rice fields on pantora when the leaves all changed.  
“Fox. You are the kindest person I’ve ever had the pleasure to know. It’s okay, really.”  
Riyo rubbed circles on his back until he fell asleep, then crept out of the room, taking the bowl with her.  
Once she saved what was left of the soup, she grabbed an ice pack and applied it to her wrist. She had hoped she was just being dramatic, but now she could see some discoloration around it. Riyo prayed it would heal before Fox could notice it- it wasn’t his fault.  
***  
Fox slept for the rest of the day, Riyo checked on him from time to time, in between searching news articles for what could’ve happened.  
She knew it wasn’t her business, but she needed to know if she was going to help Fox.  
By the end of the day, she considered sleeping on the couch, but then she remembered Fox’s broken face, asking her to stay.  
Riyo slid into the bed, hoping not to jostle Fox too much, and pulled the blanket to her shoulders. She almost screamed when Fox rolled over and put an arm around her waist. He was warm and she couldn’t resist snuggling against him a bit more.  
After all, friends did that sort of thing all the time.  
 _Right _?________________

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So uh... yeah. That all happened. It’s a fun time.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ayyyy chapter four.

Fox squinted against the sunlight filtering in the room. He slowly opened one eye to see that he was, once again waking up in Riyo’s room.  
His head pounded and his stomach felt the worst it ever had been, but he knew he deserved it.  
“Ri?”  
He almost laughed, almost.  
_When had he started calling her that _?  
Her head popped from the doorframe, her hair cascading over her shoulders.  
Had it always been wavy or had he never really seen her hair down like that?  
“Hey Fox.”  
She walked into the room and sat on the bed, making Fox wonder if it was his stomach churning because of the endless pit of guilt and disgust in his stomach, or butterflies.  
“How are you feeling today?”  
She put a hand on his forehead and her face screwed up in concentration.  
“You’re hot.”  
He stared at her, raising an eyebrow until she flushed indigo, quickly adding, “Not like that! Well I mean, you are but- Stars! You’re impossible.”  
He made an attempt at a smile.  
She was so adorable.  
“Moving aside,” Riyo had hidden her face with her hands, shaking with silent laughter, “what do you feel up to today? Do you need to shower or…you’ve been in your armor for two days now, do you need me to bring you any clothes?”  
He hadn’t even noticed.  
He slowly nodded.  
“What about a shower?” She asked.  
Another nod.  
“Okay, do you need any help?”  
He felt his face go red and she shrieked.  
“Not like that!” She was practically screaming, not helping his headache, “I meant getting to the bathroom- _Stars _!”  
Normally that would’ve made him smile, laugh, maybe add a playful _”Don’t get my hopes up, Chuchi.” _.  
But not today.  
If it weren’t for Ri, he probably wouldn’t even _think _about laughing again.  
After several apologies, Riyo led him to her bathroom and closed the door, and Fox locked it.  
He looked at the mirror, instantly regretting it.  
Fives’ face looked back at him, somehow looking both defiant and disappointed at the same time. But in a flash, his own face was staring back, tiried, pale, and sickly.  
He tried to shake off whatever emotion he was feeling, and covered the mirror with a towel.  
As soon as he stepped into the shower and let the hot water run down his back he regretted it. His knees buckled down under him and he let himself curl up into a ball.  
He couldn’t tell if he was crying or if it was just the water running down his face, but he sat there for what felt like hours.  
It wasn’t until the water ran cold that he realized he was sobbing.  
Fox heard a small knock on the bathroom door.  
“Fox? I got my aid to drop these off, I don’t know what size you are so I hope they fit. I’m going to put them outside the door with a clean towel on top, okay?”  
He didn’t have the strength to get up until the water turned freezing and he knew he had to. He quickly washed his hair with whatever shampoo Chuchi had, wanting to look like he tried, and got out. He opened the door and grabbed the towel and clothes quickly.  
The clothes fit pretty well, they were soft and warm, like they had just come out from the dryer.  
For what had to be the millionth time since meeting Riyo Chuchi, Fox felt that he did not deserve her.  
He walked out of the bathroom, squinting at the bright sunlight that Riyo’s huge windows allowed into the room.  
He stumbled to the bed before collapsing- taking in the sugary-sweet scent that was all Riyo.  
Pulling the blankets up to his chin, Fox nestled down and let himself fall asleep.  
_He knew he deserved the nightmares this time _.  
***  
By the time he woke up, the sun had set and the flashing lights of speeders were buzzing past the bedroom windows.  
He smelled something good, slowly getting up to follow the scent.  
There he saw Riyo Chuchi, her face melancholy in every sense of the word.  
It broke his heart.  
She looked up and saw him, her face erupting into a smile he couldn’t tell was genuine or her senate-smile.  
“Are you feeling better?” Riyo chirped, turning off the datapad she had apparently been reading.  
Fox shrugged and sat down opposite of her, taking note of the several take-out boxes that littered the table.  
It was a Pantoran food they had eaten together many times, if Fox remembered it right, it was called Smyrjukúla  
It was very greasy, just balls of fried meat with sauce, it was usually eaten by spiking it with a stick and eating them one by one. Sometimes Riyo paired it with rice. “An old Chuchi secret” she would say.  
But she only ate that when she was upset, it was her “comfort food”.  
“I was a bit hungry.” Riyo didn’t look him in the eyes, “Want some?”  
He nodded and watched as she dished him out some with the spike.  
That’s when he saw it.  
Fox gently grabbed her arm, suddenly forgetting all the formalities he had tried to maintain with her(not that he had been keeping them as of late), it was bruised, and ugly purple-black.  
“Riyo. Who did this to you?” The mix of hate, shock, and lack of complete sentences recently made it sound like a growl.  
He looked her in the eyes, the golden glow they usually gave off just wasn’t there.  
Her lip quivered.  
Fox understood.  
_“ _I did that to you _.” __  
If he was as numb as he thought he was then why did Riyo’s expression break his heart?  
Her eyes were swimming with tears when she whispered, “It wasn’t your fault, Fox.”  
He had never heard a worse lie.  
How could his life possibly get worse?  
That’s when there was a knock on the door.  
Riyo got up to get it, giving Fox a lingering stare that was filled with something he couldn’t place.  
As soon as she answered it, Fox could hear a voice he recognized.  
His voice and thousands of others.  
It was heavily slurred and he could hear Riyo try to calm the voice down.  
Fox got up, leaning on the table. He knew who it was.  
But even as he put a hand on Riyo’s shoulder and told her it was okay… he knew it wasn’t.  
The face of Captain Rex was enough for him to want to crumble into a million tiny pieces.  
It was worse when he knew that Rex prided himself on not-drinking.  
Then it got even worse when he remembered that only his fellow guardsmen knew about his friendship with Chuchi.  
And again, worse when he knew what Rex wanted._____________

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No hate to Rex, I love Rex, we all love Rex. But I personally think that both Fox and Rex were in the same amount of pain, and everyone handles grief differently.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Idk how to summerize this. CW/// Minor descriptions of injuries, feeling out of control of your body as in mind control.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had a long car ride so I finished this as a treat to myself. And uhhhh, not to be needy or anything but if you could leave comments and kudos it would do a lot to my ego- I mean it would totally help my work get around. Yeah. That. I also didn’t proof read this and the only time my grammar makes sense is in English papers. Enough jabber, hopefully you’ll enjoy my strange and monstrous creation.

As soon as she heard the front door close, Riyo collapsed at the table, burying her face in her hands. She sobbed for no reason in particular, maybe it was for the look in Fox’s eyes when he saw the bruise on her wrist, maybe it was the scent of alcohol coming off of the man at the door, or maybe it was the fact that he left with him.  
But it could also be because she loved him.  
It had taken her too long to decide she did. A combination of late nights helping each other, sharing food and stories, or the way he looked at her when he thought she couldn’t see.  
She loved him.  
Riyo didn’t know how long she sat there letting tears roll down onto her plate, until she heard the door open(had she not locked it?) and she got up immediately, wiping away any evidence of her little pity-party.  
Fox leaned against the doorframe, holding his ribs, bleeding freely from his nose and one of his ears.  
It was all she could do not to cry.  
“Fox…” her voice wavered, what could she say?  
He didn’t meet her eye and that broke her heart.  
She walked up to him, gently leading him to the nearest chair and sitting him down.  
Biting her lip, she went off to grab the small med-kit she kept around just in case, returning as fast as she could.  
Riyo set down the kit on the table, wishing her hands to stop shaking. She got up and wet down a small cloth, taking deep breaths.  
Her fingers fumbled as she dabbed at Fox’s nose and head, finding more cuts and bruises as she went along.  
She cupped his face, looking into his eyes, they were glazed and unfocused, but eventually he met her gaze, looking guilty for some reason.  
“Ri-“  
She pressed a finger to his lips, not wanting him to waste his energy.   
In any other situation she would’ve kissed him.  
“Fox, why-?” Her voiced cracked. She knew she couldn’t cry. Not in front of him, not now. He needed her.  
“What happened?”  
His gaze dropped again.  
“Fox. Please.”  
He shrugged, looking away, and she shook her head, running her fingers through his hair, trying to find the source of some blood that was trickling down his forehead.  
She continued patching him up in silence, occasionally looking up to see if the numb expression had melted off his face. It hadn’t. But at least his face was finally taken care of. But she remembered how he was holding his ribs when he came in.  
“I need to take your shirt off.”  
She waited for a nod, a joke, _Anything _.  
Nothing.  
“Okay, I’m going to take it off now.”  
Her fingers brushed his stomach as she pulled off the now bloodied shirt she had bought him just today.  
As soon as the shirt was off Riyo found herself staring, not only at his badly bruised ribs, but at his _abs _. It was certainly not the time to be distracted by seeing her best friend shirtless.  
Brushing herself off, she got up and walked over to the kitchen to get an ice pack, wrapping it up in a cloth before pressing it to one side. She grabbed some bandages and started wrapping the ice pack to him, the pack would probably last a few hours and once she was done with one side, she got up to get yet another ice pack for the other.  
“It’s a shame I have to see you shirtless under these circumstances, Fox. I feel it would’ve been more enjoyable.” She said as she started wrapping the second ice pack onto his ribs.  
His face was the same numb expression, looking past her and at goddess knew what.  
Riyo couldn’t handle it. She swore, throwing down the spool of gauze. It bounced gracefully a few times, still connected to Fox like a web.  
“What happened, Fox? What happened to you? What did you do- who did you kill? Who was that man, and why, why, _why _, don’t you know you can talk to me! I’ll listen, Fox. You’re the most important person in my life and it just hurts that you don’t know you can talk to me. I love you!” She was yelling on the top of her lungs, her face growing hot and she heard the blood rush to her head.  
“ _I love you _.”  
She whispered it this time, only now becoming aware of the tears streaming down her face, making everything look fuzzy.  
Riyo couldn’t look at him, so she chose a spot on the floor.  
“I don’t care if it’s selfish to love you, I love you. And I don’t think I’ll ever stop loving you, and- and I know you don’t love yourself sometimes and that hurts worse than being stuck as your best friend. And you need to tell me what’s going on, or else I can’t help you because that’s what I do Fox. I listen. And I’ll always listen to you, and-“  
She finally looked up and met his eyes, he looked stunned, but some other emotion was storming behind his eyes.  
He held out his hand for her and she took it, pulling him into a hug, careful not to bump his ribs.  
Fox stroked her hair and she closed her eyes, she could hear him fighting against a sob.  
“One of my brothers, cyar'ika. I don’t know why, I just got the orders and I could stop myself I-“  
He paused, taking in a shuddering breath.  
“It was like being locked up in the baggage area of a speeder. I didn’t know- I couldn’t stop myself. Once the chancellor gives an order, it’s like… it’s like you have no control over your own body. It’s _terrifying _.”  
He had no control…?   
“Cyar'ika, if you can figure out what-“ he sighed, and she couldn’t help but wonder what “cyar'ika” meant, “if _we _can figure out what that was… what I mean to say is… talking isn’t my strong suit, Ri.”_  
Riyo slid off of him, wanting to go right back to hugging him.  
“I’m going to finish your ribs, then you can go back to bed. You can stay with me as long as you want, as long as you promise to not keep anything from me like that again, okay? I…”  
She finished wrapping up his ribs and waited a while before getting up, helping Fox get up himself.  
“‘Night, Ri.”  
There was a heavy pause as he walked away. She had told him everything. And he was just going to ignore it?  
“Riyo?”  
She turned around, wiping away any stray tears that could’ve slid down her cheeks.  
“Yes?”  
“I love you too.”  
***  
After checking in on Fox an hour after he fell asleep, Riyo slunk out to her couch and dialed a number on her data pad.  
It was late but if anyone could help her figure this out, it would be Padmé Amidala___________

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So uhhh yeah. Obviously I’ve never been in love because I am me, so... I hope I wrote that whole confession thing decently. Again, please hand over the comments and kudos. I am begging and am at my limit.

**Author's Note:**

> So yeah, that was fun.  
> Will update when I feel like it lol.  
> * brother-killer/ murderer/ assassin  
> ** brother I think


End file.
